Ivanka Trump takes the stand TODAY in her father’s $250million New York fraud trial

• Ivanka Trump has separated herself from the case and has her own legal team instead of using the same one as Donald, Don Jr and Eric Trump 
• Her testimony could make or break AG Letitia James’ $250 million civil suit
• Will Ivanka turn on her father and brothers or try and distance herself

Ivanka Trump’s testimony on Wednesday against her father and brothers in New York state court could make or break Attorney General Letitia James’s $250 million suit against the Trump family and its namesake business.

The former first daughter will take the stand under duress – she and her attorney fought a subpoena, arguing traveling to New York from her Florida home would place ‘undue hardship’ on her – and noted the scheduled testimony next week comes in the middle of a school week.

But, now, under a judge’s order, Ivanka Trump will face questions about her family’s business deals and financial statements concerning the value of company assets in its golf and real estate empire.

Her family’s ability to keep doing business in New York state is on the line, James seeks $250 million in penalties after the judge already issued a finding of fraud and put some limitations on Trump family business deals in place.

But what will Ivanka do when she takes the stand? She has separated herself from her family in this legal drama. Her attorney got her dismissed from James’ case and Ivanka has her own legal team separate from Donald, Don Jr and Eric Trump.

Ivanka Trump, seen above in Miami, will take the stand Wednesday in New York’s civil case against her father and two brothers

Will Ivanka Trump speak honestly about her father, as she did in her testimony before the January 6th House Committee, where she revealed she didn’t believe Donald Trump’s false claim the elction was stolen? Or will she follow the lead of her brothers – Don Jr. and Eric – and try to distance herself from the matter?

‘I expect that she is going to try to do as little as possible to inflame her father but also to distance herself from any questions that the AG would have,’ New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman told CNN on Tuesday morning, noting that the former first daughter has been in prep with her lawyer for her court appearance. 

There are indications that Ivanka could cause grave damage to the Trump case, which she was once part of until she was dismissed as a defendant in June after an appeals court found that claims against her were outside the statute of limitations. 

After Donald Trump testified in court on Monday, Attorney General Letitia James told reporters: ‘We look forward to hearing the testimony of Ivanka Trump. Justice will prevail.’

And former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner told MSNBC he thinks Ivanka fought the subpoena because she doesn’t want to reveal what she knows – or risk perjury to protect her father and brothers.

‘I think because she has potentially damaging testimony against her brothers and her father, she’s doing everything she can to not have to give that testimony,’ he said.

A spokesperson for Ivanka Trump declined to comment to DailyMail.com on the first daughter ahead of Wednesday’s testimony. 

Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump in July 2014 at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have seperated themselves from the Trump family, living in Miami and have their own, independent wealth

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump with their three children Arabella, Theodore and Joseph out for a walk in Miami in October

Trump himself took the stand on Monday, where he sparred with New York Judge Arthur Engoron and delivered long, campaign-style speeches, which Engoron told him to stop and just answer the questions.

The case is a civil one, not a criminal, meaning the judge will determine the outcome of the case instead of a jury. Engoron already ruled that Trump’s financial statements were filled with fraud. This trial is to determine the punishment.

Part of determining that punishment is to look at the intent and determine whether the Trumps deliberately falsified business financial statements to inflate the company’s value in order to obtain favorable terms for loans and insurance coverage. 

That is where the testimony of Ivanka, Don Jr. and Eric comes into play. 

And while Don Jr. and Eric remain part of the Trump Empire, Ivanka Trump has stepped away from the family trade. She and husband Jared Kushner are independently wealthy and not financially dependent on the former president. 

In their testimony last week, Ivanka’s brothers distanced themselves from the company. The two served as trustees of Trump Org after Donald Trump became president.

Don Jr blamed the accountants who prepared paperwork for him to sign in his role of trustee, saying his signature attesting to the accuracy of the financials was ‘not a symbol of yes or no.’

Eric said he was not involved with the preparation of the financial statements and knew ‘nothing’ about them.

Donald Trump after testifying in his civil trial in New York on Monday

Attorney General Letitia James told reporters: ‘We look forward to hearing the testimony of Ivanka Trump. Justice will prevail.’

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner with Donald Trump at his Bedminster Golf Club in July

Meanwhile, Ivanka Trump has publicly distanced herself from her father and her Trump family since leaving the White House in January 2021.

She and Kushner live in Miami with their three children.  Ivanka’s focus is now ‘on her family, friends and philanthropic work’ as she transitions from her political life to a more private one, sources close to her told DailyMail.com recently.

She has raised money forUkrainian refugees and helped deliver supplies to the people of Maui after the devasting wildfires in Hawaii. What she has not done is re-enter politics.

She wasn’t at Mar-a-Lago last November when Donald Trump announced he would seek another White House term, posting a statement that she loved her father but wanted to stay out of politics.

Father and daughter still spend time together, albeit in private and away from the cameras. ‘The two play golf regularly,’ a source revealed.

They also see each other at family occasions such as at the bat mitzvah of Ivanka’s 13-year-old daughter Arabella Kushner this summer, as well having the occasional lunch and dinner together.

Ivanka Trump’s relationship with her father took a rocky turn after her testimony before the House’s January 6th committee 

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner served as advisers in Donald Trump’s White House – above the couple with President Trump in December 2019

Ivanka Trump joined Donald Trump and other world leaders like Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (left) and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (back left) at the women’s empowerment event at the G20 in Osaka, Japan, in June 2019

But their relationship took a shocking turn in June 2022 when Donald Trump turned on his daughter after her testimony to the House committee investigating the January 6th insurrection revealed she didn’t think the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

In a 17-second clip of her interview to the committee that was played during a primetime televised hearing, Ivanka backed up Trump Attorney General Bill Barr’s assertion that the election wasn’t stolen from her father.

‘I respect Attorney General Barr. So I accepted what he said — was saying,’ she says.

In the aftermath, the former president took to his Truth Social social media account to say that Ivanka was ‘not involved in looking’ at the results of the 2020 election. 

‘Ivanka Trump was not involved in looking at, or studying, Election results. She had long since checked out and was, in my opinion, only trying to be respectful to Bill Barr and his position as attorney general (he sucked),’ Trump wrote on Truth Social, around 12 hours after part of her testimony was revealed. 

It was a startling turn of events. Trump and his daughter were known for their close relationship and she was seen as his favorite child. 

In April of last year, Ivanka Trump spent eight hours testifying before the House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol, where Donald Trump supporters attempted to stop the certification of the election.

She reportedly was one of the White House staff who went to the Oval Office multiple times on January 6th, asking her father to tell his supporters to leave the Capitol.

Ivanka Trump appeared on her father’s reality show The Apprentice

Donald Trump Jr. (left) and Eric Trump (right) in a New York courtroom last week

Before politics, Ivanka Trump served as Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization, her family’s business empire.

It was a position that catapulted her to fame, leading to guest appearances on her father’s then-reality show The Apprentice and inches of press in New York’s notorious tabloid gossip columns. 

She participated in Trump and Trump-branded projects, including deal evaluation, pre-development planning, financing, design, construction, sales, and marketing, according to then-descriptions on the Trump Organization’s website.

She also led the charge to led the charge to develop the Old Post Office Building in Washington D.C. to a signature Trump hotel. She oversaw the $200-million conversion of the historic building. It opened in 2016 and was a gathering point for Trump supporters during his administration but the family sold off the lease in May 2022.

Ivanka turned her business skills into a company of her own, where she sold jewelry, shoe, and clothing.

She left the business in March 2017 to become a senior adviser in Donald Trump’s White House.

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